BHS baseball rallies past Highland A

RIDGECREST — An early deficit didn't deter Burroughs in its final home game of the summer season.

By Anthony GentileSPORTS EDITORagentile@ridgecrestca.com

RIDGECREST — An early deficit didn't deter Burroughs in its final home game of the summer season. The Burros used a three-run fifth inning to complete a 5-2 comeback victory against Highland A (Palmdale) Thursday night at Ed Dilley Field, improving their summer record to 10-2-1."We're a club that doesn't ever quit — we keep playing," Burroughs baseball coach John Bradley said. "We did a decent job today. I'm pleased — I'm not really happy about it — but they definitely didn't quit and they did enough to win."Highland A led off the game with a single that turned into a run after a stolen base, passed ball and wild pitch each advanced the runner one base. The Bulldogs added another run in the third inning, but that's all starter JP Pooley — a junior varsity player last season — allowed in five innings of work. "We're working on his mechanics right now, and he started off very well early — he was throwing the ball with downward flight, it had good explosiveness and a little bit of run on it," Bradley said. "They were fouling some pitches off because he wasn't locating enough — he was staying too much in the middle of the plate."Burroughs was held scoreless until the third inning, when they used small ball to tie the game. With Jeremiah Johnson on second after a one-out walk and stolen base, Jase Young hit a liner up the middle that deflected off the Highland A pitcher and rolled between second and third base. Johnson scored on the hit and Young ended up at second after the throw to home. Without a hit, the Burros added another run. Young, who finished 3-for-3, advanced to third on a fly ball to right field during the next at-bat, and scored on a passed ball one batter after that. "We talk about that all the time, reading the ball in downward flight. He saw the ball, took off and scored a run," Bradley said. "We're going to short game people and we're going to make them play defense."Both teams went three-up, three-down in the fourth inning. And after Pooley held Highland A scoreless in the top of the fifth, Burroughs' offense went back to work. Five straight Burros reached base with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Young hit an RBI double to left-center field to give Burroughs a 3-2 lead, and back-to-back RBI singles by Darnell Prince and Pooley extended that lead to three runs. "I'm trying to get them to understand not to panic," Bradley said. "We're down two runs and it is what it is — at any time we can score two or three runs."That lead was enough for Young, who moved from shortstop to the mound to relieve Pooley in the sixth. The senior-to-be kept Highland A off the scoreboard in the sixth and seventh innings, with three strikeouts during his two innings of work. Burroughs punctuated the win with a double play for the final two outs of the game."We have a lot of young guys in there that are getting playing time and that's good," Bradley said. "They're getting experience, whether they're a JV or a varsity guy right now, and that's what the summer is all about."In addition to gaining experience, Bradley said the main goal during summer is to make the players better fundamentally. It's also a time for Burroughs' players to build arm strength by playing catch, long toss and upping innings pitched, increase speed and get valuable repetitions at the plate."We lost some guys to football, so our numbers are down to 10 or 11 guys. It's good because guys are getting a lot of reps," Bradley said. "I'm not concerned with wins and losses, I'm worried about the process. We're building for the February season, and right now it's all about how we play."Part of this year's summer process has been the addition of offensive wristbands, a new concept that is used when Burroughs has runners on base. Each player has a wristband, and Bradley calls out a three-digit number that corresponds to a different play within the running game."I'm a very old school guy, but I'm smart enough to know that the game changes and starts evolving," Bradley said. "The wristbands are a cool little deal. We're trying it right now and we're going to use it throughout the summer, fall and winter, and if everything goes well I plan on using it in the spring."We're still trying to work through the process and make sure we're all on the same page. The kids enjoy it and we're working through the kinks of it."Burroughs plays a doubleheader at Bishop on Saturday, and concludes its summer season at UCLA next week. During the 2013 regular season, the Burros were 16-8 and finished second in the Desert Sky League.